[Question #13151] Folliculitis vs HPV vs ???
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2 months ago
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M 57, no genital/genital sex in 1+ years, only receiving oral. Frequently get folliculitis after shaving scrotum.
About 1 mo. ago, about 3 days after shaving, had large bump in the crease of scrotum/inner thigh on right side. After a week, it shrunk to about a 1/4 of original size, but has remained for about 4 weeks now, no change. Am a frequent bike rider, and this also happens to be the area where bike saddle rubs against inner thigh. (Right side of pants/shorts always wears out from friction there.)
Asking in the STI forum because several years ago had Dx of genital wart after a biopsy of lesion on different area of scrotum, although clinician was suspicious of the biopsy result (something about the findings not fully matching the Dx criteria, and the fact there was a hair that kept growing back from within the lesion itself, supposedly not like a regular wart?). About a year later, had very similar lump on scrotum, again had biopsy with iffy-findings, so they also did PCR test and found no HPV. Clinician's email: "This was just a slight thickening of skin in this area, not caused by any infectious etiology. It seems your skin likes to make these, but, just to reiterate, there is no evidence that i was caused by HPV or is a genital wart."
Not sure if I need to get this checked out or not. Would have thought folliculitis would resolve by now, but it just seems to be exactly the same after 4 weeks (although it shrank substantially from when it first appeared).
About 1 mo. ago, about 3 days after shaving, had large bump in the crease of scrotum/inner thigh on right side. After a week, it shrunk to about a 1/4 of original size, but has remained for about 4 weeks now, no change. Am a frequent bike rider, and this also happens to be the area where bike saddle rubs against inner thigh. (Right side of pants/shorts always wears out from friction there.)
Asking in the STI forum because several years ago had Dx of genital wart after a biopsy of lesion on different area of scrotum, although clinician was suspicious of the biopsy result (something about the findings not fully matching the Dx criteria, and the fact there was a hair that kept growing back from within the lesion itself, supposedly not like a regular wart?). About a year later, had very similar lump on scrotum, again had biopsy with iffy-findings, so they also did PCR test and found no HPV. Clinician's email: "This was just a slight thickening of skin in this area, not caused by any infectious etiology. It seems your skin likes to make these, but, just to reiterate, there is no evidence that i was caused by HPV or is a genital wart."
Not sure if I need to get this checked out or not. Would have thought folliculitis would resolve by now, but it just seems to be exactly the same after 4 weeks (although it shrank substantially from when it first appeared).
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
2 months ago
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Welcome back to the forum.
A wart cannot appear, grow, then shrink to a quarter its previous size over the course of a few days. It must have been an inflammatory lesion of some sort, maybe folliculitis, an infected cutaneous cyst, or something like that. In addition, genital warts generally don't involve the inguinal area (groin).
It's hard to comment on a year old problem, but from your description, the evidence seems strong that problem was not HPV or warts. The association with a hair is against a wart and the negative HPV PCR is strong evidence as well. I see no reason to question or doubt your clinician's emailed summary.
I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.
HHH, MD
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2 months ago
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Thank you. I understand the bump that has been there for weeks doesn’t sound like HPV, and I know that HSV wouldn’t behave that way either.
Since STIs are ruled out, does it sound like I should have it checked (for whatever) given that it’s been unchanged for a month now, or just assume it’s something benign like cyst and not worry about it?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
2 months ago
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Sorry, but we deal only with STIs; we have no advice about non STI problems even in the genital area. It doesn't sound at all serious, but if you're concerned, get it checked out -- but I really can't say more. Sorry.---
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